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Video Evidence

Ok, I got a video sample of Coco's random growling/barking at NOTHING.

Here she was just chewing on a bone and I was on my computer next to her. Suddenly she was growling and barking. I got my camera out right at the end of it. I do not think she was guarding her bone, anyone can take anything from her, and she will even bring things to me and ask to come up on the bed or couch to chew on stuff in my lap. Plus she is a picky eater, and doesn't care if our cat tries to steal things from her. It seems to me like she is scared of something, but I can assure you, while this episode happened, there were no strange noises or anything.

I am thinking I should show this video to my vet. Any other thoughts on this behavior?

Sorry about the loud noises I made with the camera..and also my dirty carpet. My cat sheds little white balls all over that and I have to vacuum it nearly every day!

WOW, I'm sure there is some other explanation but that reminded me so much of how Flash used to be. Except it eventually progressed to where he would be much louder and stronger. It sometimes last for 30 minutes or more. It is hard to tell from the video but in the beginning the expression on her face reminded me of how Flash used to do that. It seems like she is looking around worried and maybe a little nervous. I understand Flash is a vary rare case.. but WOW that brought back some memories of how it started. I could always tell Flash was bothered because of his sudden lack of "happiness" he tail would not be wagging. Even when he barks at a noise, person or dog his tail is wagging. When he would have these growing episodes he would lower his head and his "happiness" would be gone for a moment. At times he would even tuck his tail between his legs....

I have to ask. Does she do anything else odd. Scratching at her neck? Pawing at her head? Licking her paws a lot? Chasing her tail? Biting at her hind quarters? Leg twitch? Squinting her eyes due to light? Excessive rolling on the floor while rubbing her head? I'm sure I could be totally wrong. I have seen your other posts and didn't think too much about it until seeing that video.

I'm ASSUMING Flash would do it because of unknown pains due to his sever CM. As long as he is on medication it has gone away (unless he is overall just having a really bad day and his symptoms are flaring up. Then he sometimes still does it.) Maybe she is experiencing pain somewhere in her body?

WOW, I'm sure there is some other explanation but that reminded me so much of how Flash used to be. Except it eventually progressed to where he would be much louder and stronger. It sometimes last for 30 minutes or more. It is hard to tell from the video but in the beginning the expression on her face reminded me of how Flash used to do that. It seems like she is looking around worried and maybe a little nervous. I understand Flash is a vary rare case.. but WOW that brought back some memories of how it started. I could always tell Flash was bothered because of his sudden lack of "happiness" he tail would not be wagging. Even when he barks at a noise, person or dog his tail is wagging. When he would have these growing episodes he would lower his head and his "happiness" would be gone for a moment. At times he would even tuck his tail between his legs....

I have to ask. Does she do anything else odd. Scratching at her neck? Pawing at her head? Licking her paws a lot? Chasing her tail? Biting at her hind quarters? Leg twitch? Squinting her eyes due to light? Excessive rolling on the floor while rubbing her head? I'm sure I could be totally wrong. I have seen your other posts and didn't think too much about it until seeing that video.

I'm ASSUMING Flash would do it because of unknown pains due to his sever CM. As long as he is on medication it has gone away (unless he is overall just having a really bad day and his symptoms are flaring up. Then he sometimes still does it.) Maybe she is experiencing pain somewhere in her body?

I know I am worried too! As a young puppy, yes she scratched at her neck a lot, but has stopped for a long time. I attribute that to learning about wearing a collar. In the morning she likes to rub her face with her paws. I attribute that to having gunk in her eyes, and I clean it out and she stops. After a bath she likes rubbing her face in the floor. No she is not sensitive to light. YES she does sometimes get a leg twitch, but it is more of a kick than a twitch. I watched the video of Flash's leg twitch and it is not like that. It happens when she is laying down, but her rear leg will actually kick out backwards a few times. And no she doesn't chase her tail or excessively lick at her paws.

BUT, another quirk she has is that out of nowhere she jumps and scratches but then stops, and licks herself. I thought it was due to her anal glands, had them emptied, the behavior continued, and 3 days ago I had her urine tested and it was positive for a UTI plus there was crystals present in the urine....so I attribute that behavior for this reason, but we will see if it gets better as she is on her antibiotics longer.

As far as other background noises, no there wasnt a toilet flushing or anything. Usually if she barks at a strange noise, she isn't lowering her head like that and darting her eyes around. She looks nervous when she has these episodes...like she is hallucinating? I am not sure if it is pain, but it could be. She is not sensitive to me touching her anywhere, I can handle her head and neck, pick her up, everything is no problem

Keep the questions coming, as I am still looking for any other possibilities

One other thing I noticed when watching the video again, is that part of the time she is looking me straight in the eye.

Flash always watches me very intently often straight in the eyes. I honesty don't understand it and I have NEVER had a dog do it before but I have found it is usually because he needs something.

Ex:

Sometimes he comes to me if he is not feeling well and will just stare at me with his head hung lower and his eyes squinty. It's like he needs a quiet dark place to go and can't find one. Once I make a dark place he will go lay down there and stay for a while.

Sometimes it's because he needs other things. If he needs to go outside he will stare at me until I acknowledge him and then run to the door. Or if he needs food or water he will stare at me until I look up at him and then he will run to the water or food bowl.

Finally, If he is in trouble for doing something and My boyfriend or I try and scold him (not yelling just a firm tone) he will turn to face us , sit and look RIGHT at our eyes. To this day he still will not look away like my other dogs if someone corrects him. (At first I thought he was challenging me but I quickly realized he was looking for direction as to what to do next.) I think he does it because of all the early training I did with him. He was always VERY focused on me and learned right away he needed to watch me for commands.

I can tell the differance in the way he stares at me. If his ears are hung back and low he is either in pain or in trouble (usually for something small and minor so its just firm tone. Don't think I'm yelling at him. I think Flash would have a heart attack if I yelled at him. He is very sensitive). If his ears are up in what I call the "cute cavalier look" (You could almost draw a straight line across the top of his head from ear to ear.) then he is happy and wants something like a walk, a toy, a treat, water...etc.

Not sure if any of this really helps but it's what I have noticed with Flash. Hope it's not confusing.

Last edited by Reptigirl; 16th March 2011 at 05:30 AM.
Reason: Added something

It kinda looks like discomfort to me, I'm sorry to say . Could it be from the UTI and crystals? If her bladder is inflamed, then it may hurt her periodically (I know that when I get one, I get a pain/ache that comes and goes), especially since I read in another thread that she is coming into season. There's going to be some changes (inside and out) that may be putting pressure on her already achey bladder and urethra. Just a thought.

Oh, and Rose was fairly even tempered during her first heat, maybe a little grumpier, but our boxer, who was normal very laid back and sweet, defering to the cats even, took to having hamburger cravings that were enough that she would growl at the cats and argue/have shove matches with them for the forgotten dinner leftovers on the table :P . Still sweet to us, but the cats had better watch out, haha. So maybe you have a "perfect storm", per se, of all 3? I hope she's feeling much better soon!